A Mother's Love
by SarcasticSlytherin00
Summary: The story of JJ and her son and the losses they face and overcome. Will JJ find the one that she is meant to be with after losing everyone she has tried to love. Rated T for language in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**_A Mother's Love_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters except for AJ_**

 ** _Chapter 1:_**

 ** _2000:_**

A young and very pregnant college student was rushed into the hospital with her friends at her side. "She's going into labor." one of the friends told the lady at the counter. They got her in a wheelchair and took her away.

"Where is the father?" The nurse asked the girl as she took her into a room.

"He passed away." The girl said softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that." The nurse told her before leaving the room to get a doctor. Four hours later the girl was finally able to hold her first born son. Her friends soon joined her in the room looking at the adorable little boy in her arms.

"Congratulations JJ!" Her best friend, Alice, told her as she finally looked up from the child. "What did you name him?"

JJ smiled as she continued to stare at her son, "Anthony Joseph Rodriguez Jr, AJ for short." All of her friends smiled as they heard the name of her first love and father of her child and the nickname so similar to her own.

"I'm sure Tony would have loved that." Alice told her.

"I know he would have." JJ said, a tear in her eye that she refused to let fall. She looked at her son who looked just like his father but with her blue eyes.

 ** _2007:_**

JJ walked into her house from her doctors appointment to find complete chaos, her son was chasing her best friend around the toy filled room with a water gun. JJ looked back at her boyfriend who was standing in the doorway watching with an amused look on his face. "Hey what is going on here?" JJ asked as she took everything in.

Spencer and AJ stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her with smiles on their faces. "We were playing water tag Mommy!" the little boy told her excitedly letting out a small gasp as he felt his uncle scoop him up and put him on his shoulders.

JJ smiled at her son before looking at her best friend, "Spence, you know I don't like him playing with guns and why are you playing that game inside."

"Sorry Jayje, he wanted to play it and it was too cold outside I'll clean this place up." Reid told her with a small smile on his face. They all started to pick up the place and dry the water off the wood floor. "So how did it go?" He asked, referring to the doctors appointment to check on JJ's growing baby.

"It went well, everything is normal and we can most likely learn the sex of the baby by the next appointment." Will told him through his barely understandable accent.

"That's good, when is the next appointment?" Reid asked as they finished up.

"In three weeks." JJ answered this time.

"Great, well I'd better get going, I'll see you tomorrow." Reid told her as he went to hug AJ goodbye.

"Thank you for the toys and ice cream Uncle Spence!" The boy shouted in a hyper way.

"Oh god Spence you gave him ice cream, how much did you give him this time." JJ asked dreading the answer as she looked at her jumping son.

"I'd better go we have work early, goodbye everyone." Reid said as he rushed out the door. JJ laughed as she looked at Will then AJ and wondered how she would get the boy down for the night.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

The next day JJ walked into the BAU looking extremely tired, she glared at Reid as he looked at her with an apologetic smile. Morgan came over to her with a small smirk, "Late night with Will?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, getting the attention of most of the group.

"No, Spence decided to give my son, who has an eight o'clock bed time, three scoops of cookie dough ice cream with whipped cream, hot fudge, and sprinkles at seven. Suffice to say he didn't go to bed at eight." JJ told them all through gritted teeth as she continued to glare at Reid.

"Sorry, that little boy is really good at talking people into stuff. How did you even know that's what I gave him?" Reid told her as everyone laughed at the two.

"He told me about three times, along with some facts that he read online and heard from you, I swear you two are the same person. Why couldn't you have just had a Star Trek marathon like last time?" JJ sighed as she sat on Reid's desk.

"We've seen them all over the past few times we're probably going to start Doctor Who next time." JJ just laughed and went to her office. She went through her daily routine and was half way done for the day when she got a call from her son's school. She answered the phone and was surprised and furious with what she heard. She quickly told Hotch the situation and headed out.

She got to the school quickly and headed inside to the principal's office. She knocked on the door and entered to see AJ looking at her with sad eyes and a small pout. "Would you like to explain what happened AJ?" The principal asked the little boy who shook his head.

"Anthony Joseph, tell me what happened right now." JJ told him with her hands on her hips.

"I may have gotten into an argument with the teacher." AJ told her leaving out part of the story.

"Tell her the rest of the story." The principal encouraged in a stern tone.

AJ looked up and sighed, "The argument got kind of heated and I may have thrown something and walked out." JJ looked at him in surprise, he never caused trouble at home but he had been doing it constantly at school.

"AJ will apologize to his teacher tomorrow. Is it okay if we go?" JJ said while giving her son a pointed look.

"Actually, I'd like to talk to you alone. AJ could you please wait outside for a minute?" The principal asked, getting a small nod from AJ before he got up and left the room. "AJ is a very intelligent boy, he's already been moved up one grade, but I think that the class is still moving way to slow for him. We want to get him tested. I think he needs to be moved up more. I think your boy is a genius." The principal told her with a small smile.

"Wow, do you really think that could be his problem?" JJ asked, a smile growing on her face.

The principal nodded her head and answered, "I'm pretty sure it is."

"Alright, so what kind of trouble is he in?" JJ asked remembering why she had come in the first place.

"We're just sending him home for the day, according to his teacher he can hold a pretty good argument for a seven year-old." They both smiled at that and said their goodbyes before JJ left the room. She called AJ over and they went to the car together.

"I have to go back to work and Will is at work as well so you are going to come with me over there." JJ told him. "Your behavior recently has not been acceptable. I am not going to tolerate you disrespecting your teachers. You will apologize to your teacher, not only for today but for all of the behavior you have displayed recently. Will and I will discuss your punishment this afternoon, but for now no electronics you will sit in my office or with one of your aunts or uncles and do your homework. Got it?" JJ finished up her lecture while still in the school parking lot and looked to the backseat to see her son looking at the floor.

Finally, he looked up and answered quietly, "Yes, ma'am." JJ smiled and reached back to him giving a small pat on his shoulder before starting the car and leaving the parking lot. They drove to Quantico in silence. When they got there JJ asked Reid to watch AJ for a minute while she went to talk to Hotch. She then went to his office and knocked on the door, when she heard him speak she came into the room.

"How did it go?" Hotch asked as he looked up from his paperwork.

"It was okay, AJ got into an argument with his teacher and left the classroom." JJ told him sounding stressed.

Hotch looked slightly confused at this, "Oh, I don't get it, AJ has always been one of the most well behaved kids I've ever known, do they have an idea of what's going on at school?"

"They think he might be bored in class and that is why he is acting out. They want to get him tested to see if they need to move him up." JJ told him with a small smile.

"But, he has already been moved up a year. How much further would they be moving him up, are you looking at a Reid thing or just another grade up?" Hotch asked looking out his window to see Reid showing AJ how to do a magic trick.

"I don't know. I guess it just depends on what the results of the test are." JJ said looking out to see what Hotch was looking at. "You know, I always tell Spence that my son is a miniature version of him but know, what if he is, what if he ends up in high school at eight or nine, Spence tells us about how those kids picked on him. What if they do that to my son."

"You know the difference between what Spencer went through and what is going on with AJ is, if AJ does end up to be more gifted than we originally thought and ends up in high school at a young age. AJ has a detective dad and a mom and a whole bunch of aunts and uncles who work for the FBI, if those kids pick on your son, it will be a one-time deal if I have anything to say about it." Hotch told her flashing her his rarely seen smile.

"Thanks for that, I better get back to work, I think I found us a new case." JJ smiled at him before heading down to get AJ and going to her office to get back to work. The rest of her day went by slowly but it finally ended and she was able to leave. The two got home to the smell of burning food. When they went into the kitchen they saw Will attempting to make dinner.

"Hey, honey I think you somehow managed to burn the soup." JJ told him through a small laugh.

"Oh, did I know." Will laughed thinking she was joking, he stopped laughing when he saw that the bottom of the pot was black. "How about we order some pizza." He said in a defeated tone.

"Alright, but in the meantime I think AJ has something he needs to tell you." JJ told him while looking down at her son.

"What kind of trouble did you get into at school this time?" Will asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrow.

"I left the classroom after getting into an argument with my teacher and throwing something." AJ told him quickly and quietly.

"You've got to stop disrespecting your teachers and causing trouble at school. I don't understand it, it's not like how you are at home, what is going on buddy?" Will sighed looking at the boy that he thought of as a son.

"I don't know, I'm sorry sir I promise I won't cause any more trouble at school." AJ told him looking down at the floor.

"Alright, you better not." Will said. After their talk dinner came quickly and soon the quiet of the night overcame the house.

 ** _Thank you for reading, please review._**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2:_**

 ** _A/N: Sorry about the wait, I've been really busy._**

 ****A week later it was the day of AJ's test. "Good luck on that test today buddy, I love you." Will told him in his strong southern accent.

AJ looked up at him and smiled, "I love you too, Dad." He told him before getting out of the car quickly. Will watched him leave with a smile on his face and a tear in his eye.

He called JJ and hoped she would answer. She was coming home from her latest case today so he wasn't sure if she was on the plane yet. He sighed as he heard the voice of the woman he loved come through, "Hello."

"Hey, my love, guess what just happened." Will told her excitedly.

"What?"

"AJ called me dad." He said happily.

JJ smiled as she spoke, "That is great honey, I've got to go. I'm getting on the plane now, I should be able to get home in two hours, I'll see you then and we can celebrate tonight. I love you."

"I love you too, have a good flight." Will said before hanging up his phone and heading to the station to start work. He was working for about an hour and a half when he decided to stop at a nearby gas station to get some coffee. He went into the quiet shop and was paying for his coffee when a guy walked in. At first Will didn't think anything of it but as he walked past him he saw a gun in the back of his pants.

Before Will could react the guy pulled the gun out and told everyone to get down. "Drop the weapon!" Will yelled as he pulled out his own gun, dropping the coffee. The guy stared at Will for a second before reaching for someone nearby and pulling them in front of him.

"Drop yours." He told Will as he pointed the gun at the young girl he had grabbed head. Will looked at the girl and the guys hand which was inching towards the trigger. He lowered his gun slowly. "Put it on the ground and kick it over." Will hesitated for a second before slowly putting it down and pushing it to the guy.

"You don't want to hurt her, I don't have the gun anymore, just let the girl go." Will tried to reason with the man. The man just stared at Will before grabbing his gun off the floor and putting it where his was before.

He then turned to the cashier and told him to give him all the money in there. Will tried to find a way to stop him but with the girl in his arms and having no weapon he didn't know what to do, but then a plan came to him. He quickly ran for his gun out of the man's pants and put it to the back of the guy's head, "Let her go." He growled out in a deep and raspy voice. The man stayed still for a second before letting the girl go as he tuned to face Will.

The guy looked at Will with a smirk on his face, "You have been causing me problems this whole time. You know you were right earlier when you said I didn't want to hurt that girl over there, you on the other hand I really do." Will saw the guy pull the trigger as he pulled his own, he saw the guy drop from the shot to the head. As the adrenaline started wearing off he felt a pain in his stomach, he looked down and to his horror saw blood soaking through his white shirt.

He staggered around for a second before falling, the people in the store surrounded him. The cashier called the police and an ambulance over. Will was bleeding out quickly and was starting to lose consciousness, one of the guys took his shirt off and pressed it to the wound in an attempt to stop the blood flow.

Will was fading, he grabbed the guy closest to him and pulled him closer, "Tell my girlfriend and son I love them." He pleaded with the man, "My girlfriend's name is JJ use my phone and let her know that I love her and our children with all of my heart. Will you tell her to tell Anthony that I am proud of the man he is becoming and to take care of his little brother or sister." Will rushed this part out, running out of energy and breath. He slowly breathed in his last breath and let the darkness consume him.

The ambulance came a few minutes later along with a few police cars. The man Will had spoken to slowly took Will's phone and looked through the contact list for JJ when a call came from just the person he was looking for.

"Hey baby, I just got to the office." JJ spoke happily into the phone. The man sighed as he went to ruin the woman's happiness, he explained the situation and gave her Will's last words before she thanked him and hung up.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

JJ didn't know how to feel, she didn't want to believe what she was told. She slowly slid down against one of her office walls and cradled her baby bump as she rocked slowly. Emily, who was going up to ask her a question, saw her doing this and walked up to her, sitting beside her she looked into JJ's tear- filled eyes.

"What happened Jayje?" She asked in a soft tone.

"I just got a call, Will is" She started her breath hitching as she spoke, "Em, Will's gone." Emily gasped as she heard this.

"Come on, honey, let's get you home." Emily said as she got up and put her hand out to help JJ up.

"I should tell Hotch." JJ told her through her tears.

"Don't worry about all that Jayje, you can take care of that stuff later let's just get you into my car, I'll take you home." Emily told her as she pulled JJ into a hug. Emily put her arm around JJ's shoulder as she released her from the hug and started walking her out of the building, ignoring the curious looks and questions from the team. As they got to Emily's car, Emily unlocked it and made sure JJ was settled before asking if she wanted her to tell the rest of the team, JJ just looked at her and nodded.

They drove to JJ's house in complete silence other than the low buzz of the radio and the quiet crying coming from JJ. When they got to the house JJ pulled out her keys and they both went in and sat on the couch, when JJ's phone rang. She looked down at it and sighed before answering.

"JJ, where did you go, there are a couple of things we need to go over?" Hotch asked.''

"Um, Hotch there's something that you and the rest of the team need to know, Emily's with me by the way." JJ told him, letting out a shaky breath.

"What's wrong JJ?" Hotch asked in a concerned voice.

JJ sighed before telling Hotch, "Please just get the others in here and I'll explain what happened." Hotch got the team together and put the phone on speaker.

"Ok JJ, everyone is in here. Will you please tell us what is going on?" Hotch asked desperately, wanting to know why a member of his family sounded so upset.

"Will was shot today, he didn't make it." She explained in a soft, sad voice. There were a few gasps but for the most part it stayed quiet.

Hotch was the first to speak, "JJ, I'm so sorry, what can we do to help you through this?"

"Could, um, could you just be here. Having you guys around would make this easier" JJ asked them. They all immediately agreed and decided to head over right then. "Could one of you pick up AJ on your way?"

"Me and the kid can take care of that, we'll be over soon." Morgan told her, as he was giving Reid a ride. They all headed out to their separate vehicles, all except Hotch who went to explain the situation to Strauss first. Morgan and Reid both jumped into his truck and made their way to AJ's school. When they got there they headed to the front desk.

"Hello, we need to pick up Anthony Rodriguez, he is in Mr. Clark's fourth grade class. My name is Spencer Reid. I should be on the list of guardians that can get him." Reid told the secretary, overwhelming her as she quickly typed his information into the computer.

"Alright, I found your name, I need to see your ID and find out the reason Anthony is being taken out early." The secretary finally told the impatient pair. Spencer quickly pulled out his wallet and told her that a family emergency had come up. The boys sat there waiting for about five minutes before someone came up with a note saying that things were going to take a little while longer because AJ was in the middle of a very important test, the one to determine where he would go in school." They waited for another ten minutes before AJ came to the front.

As AJ came he was confused that it was his uncles picking him up and as he looked closer he could tell something was wrong. "Hey Uncle Derek and Uncle Spence." He said warily, waiting until they were outside to ask what was going on.

"Hey buddy, how did the test go?" Reid asked as he hugged him.

"It was really easy, they said they were going to talk to mom about my placement as soon as they got the results." AJ told them. The two men smiled at him and the three walked out, waving goodbye to the secretary as they passed. As soon as they got out AJ started questioning, "What's going on, why did you guys pick me up?"

"It'll be explained when we take you home, for now let's just worry about that." Derek told him as he lifted him up to help him get into his truck. They drove to JJ's house with limited talking between them. When they got to the house AJ saw his mom sitting on the sofa with his aunts and uncles around her.

"Mom, what's going on, why is everyone over here and where's dad?" AJ asked growing more and more worried as he took everything in. The tears in her eyes and the facial expression shared by everyone confirmed the worst. "No. It isn't dad, it can't be. Mom, please just tell me what happened."

JJ looked at him with tears running down her face and opened her arms, "Come here, honey." AJ walked over to her and curled himself into her arms. "There was a robbery at a gas station that your daddy was in this morning, dad's immediately response was to protect everyone in that shop. He stopped the man from hurting other people in the store but he was shot, buddy your dad went out while saving people's lives, he died a hero." By this point everybody, even Hotch was either crying or on the verge of doing so.

JJ voice broke as she spoke her next words, "Honey, I want you to know something, I talked to your dad this morning and he was about the happiest he had been since I told him I was pregnant, and that was because of you, he was that happy because you had called him dad. When they called me to tell me what had happened to your father I found out that he stayed alive for enough time to get out what he wanted to tell us, he said he was proud of you, he loves you and that he wants you to take care of your little sibling. I know this is hard baby, but me and you are going to get through this with the knowledge that Will loved us and we will always love him."

 ** _A/N: I really didn't want to do that, but it was necessary for the story. Please review._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3:_**

 **AN: I'm sorry for being such a horrible updater guys, I am probably going to continue this pattern so I am going to make no promises of when the next chapter will come. Once again sorry guys.**

 ** _2010:_**

 ****It has been three years, three years since that awful day and JJ was finally starting to move on. They had struggled for years to get to the happy family they now were. JJ got a lot of help from the BAU family over the years even after she was forced out of her job and into this new one.

AJ had grown more mature than he should be for his age, because of two things, needing to be there for JJ and Henry, and being surrounded by kids much older than him in school.

JJ had grown closer to Hotch as they both struggled with their similar losses. Emily had also been a great support system. It was a little harder now that she was stuck in hiding but they could still play scrabble together. True to her word, she spent as much time with Garcia as she could. Derek had become a lot closer with AJ, taking him to play video games or some sport almost every weekend. Rossi was basically a father to JJ and a grandfather to AJ, he was always there if he was needed.

All of her colleagues were supportive and helpful, but none more so than Reid. Reid came by constantly to help out with the family. JJ was struggling almost as much as Reid due to him taking Emily's death so hard. Her struggling was from something else though, guilt. JJ struggled on multiple occasions to not tell him, but she couldn't, she couldn't risk Emily's life just so he could know the truth.

It was obvious to just everyone that Reid liked JJ and JJ liked Reid, everyone except JJ and Reid that is. AJ was finally at a point where he would be okay if they dated but he wasn't sure if JJ was, she had struggled a lot to get to the place that she was at now.

Once a week the whole team got together for dinner and tonight it was JJ's turn to host. She had finally gotten the house as clean as it could be with a son in his terrible two stage and was working on dinner, holding her two-year-old son in her arms. "Do you need help?" AJ asked with a somewhat amused look as he walked into the kitchen and saw her trying to multitask.

"I think I'm alright, could you hold your brother for me though? If I put him down I know he will get into something and make a huge mess." She asked him. He grabbed his baby brother and held him while he continued to talk to his mother before they were interrupted by the doorbell.

"Ten bucks says it's Uncle Spence." AJ told her with a cheeky grin as she went to get the door. They both knew it would be as he always came way earlier than anyone else on her hosting days, they did the same on his.

When JJ came back to the kitchen with Reid she immediately rushed back to the food she was cooking in order to not burn the whole team's dinner. Henry immediately got excited when he saw his godfather, "Uncle 'pence." He shouted enthusiastically as he almost jumped out of AJ's arms.

"Oh, I see how much I mean to you little buddy." AJ told his brother in a fake offended tone before turning to his uncle, "Hey Uncle Spence, nice to see you."

"Nice to see you too AJ, how much do I have to pay you for that adorable child in your arms?" Reid smiled brightly at his two favorite children.

"This little guy?" AJ asked jokingly as he held Henry up to examine him, "I'd say he's worth at least a ten grand, what do you think mom?" he asked staring at his mother who was shaking her head at the amusing exchange between the two.

JJ turned to Spencer instead of AJ for the answer, "Henry isn't for sale, maybe rent, but I would never sell my baby boy. AJ, on the other hand, you can have for free."

"Oh how you wound me, mother." AJ told her as he finally gave up Henry, handing him to Spencer. They continued their playful banter which then turned into a talk about the black market and an angry JJ, wondering why her son knew anything about the black market. Soon enough dinner was ready, right as JJ was turning off the stove the doorbell rang. AJ went to grab it with Reid not far behind him.

AJ opened the door to see four people standing behind it. Hotch, Jack, Garcia, and Morgan all smiled and entered the home. "You lot have impeccable timing, dinner just finished cooking." AJ told them all with a smile as he went to hug his uncles and aunt. Spencer greeted each of them as well and Henry was hugged by each new member.

Everyone had made their way to the dining room when the doorbell rang again, this time JJ answered to see Rossi. They greeted and made their way to the dining room. Once everyone was settled they started eating, as usual it was a fun afternoon filled with chatter and catching up on everyone's gossip.

After dinner the team had divided into groups and were all having their own conversations. "So, little genius, how has school been?" Morgan asked as he tossed the baseball into AJ's mitt in the backyard.

"It's going good." AJ answered shortly as he threw the ball back, trying to move away from the topic. It was the beginning of his sophomore year and so far classes were okay but the kids, like last year were jerks.

"Kid you're talking to one of the many profilers here, how about you tell me how it really is." Derek tried again.

AJ sighed before answering, "I don't know, the classes are good, if not a little too easy. Most of the teachers are okay, the students are just…" he paused for a moment trying to think of how to say things in a way that Morgan wouldn't try to go knock some sense into them. "The kids at school aren't all that friendly." he hoped that the 'most teachers' thing would be overshadowed by the other part of his answer.

"Are they bullying you?" Morgan's asked seriously as they stopped playing catch for a moment.

"No." AJ answered a little too quickly, he sighed as Morgan looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I wouldn't call it that necessarily, some of them just aren't the kindest of people to me."

"Have you talked to JJ or Reid about this?"

"No, and I'm not going to, this is my problem. I can deal with it on my own. Please don't mention it to either of them." AJ started off strong but basically begged during the end of it.

"You are too much like your mother. That's usually a good thing, but it seems you've inherited her stubbornness and independence along with the other stuff. I can't promise I won't tell her, but I can tell you that I will only mention it if she asks or if something happens at the school." Morgan promised

AJ looked grateful and relieved at the agreement, "Thanks, Uncle Derek. By the way did you know a study has shown that over half of a person's traits are inherited, leaving less than half to be influenced by the family, environment, and life of the person." Derek laughed as he realized just how much the boy was like Spencer as well as JJ, it seemed that most of the lesser half of traits had been learned from Spencer. They started tossing the ball again and conversing about unimportant topics.

Inside, JJ was having a conversation with Reid and Garcia about her return to the BAU, which would be soon. She just had to finish the profiling classes and she would start working as a profiler. Reid was more excited than anyone else, including JJ, about this. Working without her hadn't been all that great, seeing his best friend there used to be the highlight of his day and soon it would come again.

Hotch was the first to leave, mostly due to the five-year-old tucked in his arms, fast asleep. Rossi followed soon after as he was close to the five-year-old's state himself. Morgan left about an hour later with a promise to take AJ to the arcade next week. Garcia stayed around a little while longer to help JJ clean up while Reid put the boys to bed. Soon enough it was only Reid and JJ in the living room.

"So, are you excited to be coming back?" Reid asked as they continued their conversation from earlier.

"Yeah, it is nice having a more stable job, but I miss my other family." JJ told him with a small smile.

"It wasn't that much more stable though was it, you were out of town almost as much as us a few months ago." Reid mentioned, he saw JJ get a little tenser when he mentioned that.

"Yeah, we had some things going on a few months ago that took a while to fix. It's a lot better now though." JJ told him. Spencer could tell she was lying about something but decided not to push it whatever she was hiding, she had reason to do so.

They had a nice, quiet evening before Reid decided to head home for the night. They both said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. JJ fell asleep with a peaceful dream of the man she had unknowingly fallen in love with.

 **AN: Sorry if this chapter sort of sucked, it was meant to be an information chapter to sort of catch up to where things have turned and a slight fluff chapter after how dramatic the last one was. If you don't like the time jump I am thinking about doing a couple of chapters with flashbacks of the gap, if you're interested in that please let me know. Thank you for reading and please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4:_**

 **AN: Thank you guys for your reviews, follows, and favorites. I really appreciate the support this story has been getting.**

She was back, finally, after months JJ was back in the BAU. She was back to working with the people she loves. As she stepped out of the elevator, she took in the atmosphere. People were rushing in and out of the bullpen, her colleagues were all huddled around Morgan's desk looking at something and a smile made its way to her face. She missed this.

Garcia was the first to look up from Morgan's laptop, she smiled and went rushing over to JJ. "Oh, my sweet gumdrop, you're back." She said as she hugged JJ. The others quickly followed suit, greeting and embracing her. It was like they hadn't seen her in months, which in a way they hadn't, sure they hung out as often as they could, but there was something about working together that made it feel like she was returning home.

Hearing the commotion from below, Rossi and Hotch came out of their offices. They both watched the scene for a moment, Hotch's lips turned upward slightly in a way they rarely did anymore. After a moment they both walked down to greet JJ. Once everyone had settled Hotch spoke, "JJ, I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow?" He asked with everyone nodding in agreement.

"I was, but I wanted to surprise everyone, and stop Pen from trying to throw a party." JJ explained getting a slight frown from Garcia before she perked up.

"Oh sweet pea, you're a profiler now. You should know there is no way to stop me from throwing you a party." Everyone laughed at this. They spent a good part of the day catching up, although they had gotten together a week prior.

The rest of the week past with no problems and soon enough JJ was settled back in and it seemed like she had never left at all. On Friday JJ and Garcia decided to have a girl's night, they didn't want to go out so they went to JJ's house. AJ and Henry were staying at Reid's for the night and the girls were having a good time when Garcia finally brought the Reid situation, "What's going on between you and Spencer?"

JJ was thrown off by this question, "What do you mean, Pen. He's my best friend." She told her sounding thoroughly confused.

"Come on Jayje, everybody can see that there is more than that between you guys."

"There is nothing going on between us." JJ told her firmly but with the look she got from Garcia she let out a sigh knowing there was no getting out of this. "Fine, I like him, I've had a crush on him for years. But I'm not ready to go back out into the dating world."

"JJ it's been three years, don't you think Will would want you to move on with your life and try to find someone to be happy with? You can't just be alone and miserable for the rest of your life sweetie." For once Garcia was completely serious as she spoke."

"Can we talk about something else, I don't want to have this conversation now. I told you that I'm not ready can you please just respect other people's privacy for once." Silence followed JJ's outburst.

"I know I try to pry a little into your life, but JJ if I don't do it you will just stay silent and let everything just stay stuck inside. You always do that and that is not the way to heal from it, it makes things worse. No one is allowed to hurt you like that, especially not you. You've been hurting inside for years, I can tell. You don't get to do that to yourself when you have a family that wants nothing more than for you to be happy and healthy, a family that will do anything to help you. You can't just keep everything locked away like this, you need to talk to people. JJ, I know opening up to people is hard but you have a family full of people who love you and would never judge you for anything you feel. Just please talk to us, talk to me." By this point, Garcia was crying and JJ was close to doing so herself.

They sat in silence for a few minutes and Garcia was scared that she had overstepped her bound this time, when finally, JJ spoke, "I can't lose another person I love, I just can't." JJ's voice cracked as she explained what she was feeling.

"Sweetie, you won't lose him or anyone else." Garcia told her but before she could finish JJ cut her off.

"You can't say that. You don't know what is going to happen especially in our line of work. Things happen, and I can't go through this again. Every man that I have ever been in love with, like really in love with, I've lost them. Penelope, I can't lose Spence."

"JJ, you can't be afraid to love. I know things have been tough throughout your life, especially your love life but you can't give up because you're afraid of getting hurt. You can't run from it, I know you Jayje, and you are way too stubborn to give up. You need to hold onto hope because everything happens for a reason and things will work out for you."

There was silence for a few minutes as both girls tried to get their emotions under control. Finally, JJ spoke, "I never told you what happened to Anthony, AJ's dad?" she asked quietly. Penelope just shook her head. "It happened the day I found out I was pregnant. I told him over the phone and he rushed into his car to come to my apartment." JJ let out a shaky breath before continuing, "He was hit by a drunk driver, he died on impact."

"I'm sorry Jayje." Garcia told her quietly.

"It was one of the hardest things I've had to deal with, and the only thing that held me together was knowing that I had a piece of him in me. Those boys of mine are the only reason I'm still here, they're the reason I'm where I am. I can't go through that kind of loss again. I don't know what will happen if I try to love someone again. What if I lose someone else that I can't live without?"

"Honey, I know it hurts. I know it can be scary, but you can't focus on the what if's in life. If you do that you stop living. You turn into a robot, just going through the motions of everyday life and you can't do that to your boys, you can't do that to yourself."

Garcia pulled JJ into a tight embrace as she said those words. A single tear ran down JJ's face as she relaxed into the loving hug.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

Spencer had just put Henry to bed and walked back to the living room to play one last game with AJ before sending him to bed. The chess board was already set up and AJ was waiting for him to sit down. "You ready to lose, Uncle Spence?" The boy questioned in a teasing tone.

"Just for that, I'm not going to let you win like I normally would." Spencer bit back.

"You haven't been letting me win, I would have noticed that."

"Of course I have; don't you think it's suspicious that you've won every time." Spencer told him, trying to make his voice sound sincere.

"Whatever makes you feel better, Uncle Spence. I get that you suck at chess but there is no need to lie about it." AJ gave him a small smirk as he continued their playful banter. They both laughed as they started to play the game.

"So, what's going on between you and mom?" AJ asked as he moved his knight.

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked, thrown off by the question.

"Well, it's obvious that you like her. So I guess what I'm trying to ask is are you going to try to ask her?"

"AJ, it's not as simple as me liking her. I don't know if she likes me back, or if she is ready to be involved in a relationship. Plus, she has you and Henry to think about."

"Uncle Spence, don't take this as an insult, but for a profiler you are so oblivious to things like this. The way you two look at each other, it is obvious that you both have feelings for one another. As for her not being ready, I don't know either but I think she is scared. I think she doesn't want to love someone for fear of losing them and I think you can be the person to show her that she doesn't need to be scared. Henry and I love you, I get that you guys might not want to confuse Henry but you can't just not try if this could be something great." They both stayed in silence for a moment as Reid contemplated AJ's speech.

"Checkmate." AJ told him as he stood up from the table and made his way to the guest room that had become his and Henry's he stopped halfway there and turned around, "You know, I think the most excited I've ever been was when I found out you and mom were going on a date." With that he walked into the room and softly closed the door.

Spencer stared in wonder at the door which held two of the people he held dearest behind it. He cleaned up quickly and headed to bed himself. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he wanted to try to talk to JJ about it in the morning. He went to bed with a small smile on his face as he thought about the family that had become his own.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

The next day, the doorbell rang at a little after ten. Spencer answered it to see JJ smiling at him. "Hey Jayje, the boys are eating breakfast. Do you think we could talk, in my room?" Spencer asked nervously.

JJ smiled softly and nodded, she hoped this was about what she talked about the previous night. "JJ, I, well um…" Spencer stuttered over his words as he tried to express the feelings he had been keeping in for so long. "Jennifer, I have had feelings for you for a long time and I really want to be with you. I know you might not be ready for a relationship, but I'm willing to wait for when you are. I understand if you don't want to try this I just really needed to tell…" his rambling was cut off by lips colliding with his.

Reid was surprised at first, but returned the kiss quickly. They stayed like this for a while, until they both needed to breath. Reid looked at her with a slightly confused yet happy expression, "Your right, I might not be ready for a relationship. I'm going to be honest, I'm scared to try, but Spence, I care about you so much and if I'm going to try to move on and date someone, I really want it to be you."

Reid smiled and was going to go in for another kiss, but a small gasp and the look on JJ's face stopped him. "What's wrong Jayje?" he asked softly.

"What about the boys, I can't do this if they aren't ready and I really don't want to confuse them." JJ said softly as she berated herself for just now thinking about this.

Spencer let out a soft laugh before looking at JJ, "I don't think you have to worry about that, AJ is the one who talked me into actually talking to you about this instead of just hiding it like usual. You know Jayje, you have two really amazing boys." JJ smiled as she looked out the slightly opened door at her oldest son trying to help feed his baby brother without making a mess. This time when Reid went to kiss her she returned it happily.

A few minutes later they exited the room and walked into the kitchen. Henry immediately yelled and held his arms out for his mommy. AJ smiled as he looked between her and Spencer. "So, how was your day yesterday, AJ?" JJ asked him while picking up her youngest.

"It was good, but Uncle Spence killed Queen Margaret and Charlie, my noble steed." JJ looked over to Spencer for an answer.

"He named his chess pieces." He told her with a small laugh.

"So are you guys, you know…" AJ awkwardly tried to ask the obvious question. He smiled when they both nodded.

"You can't tell anyone yet though buddy. We are going to wait a little while to tell people." JJ told him in a somewhat stern tone. He gave her a quick nod before hugging both of them with a big smile on his face the whole time. He wasn't ready for another dad, but he was ready for his mom to find someone she would be happy with.

 **AN: AJ and Garcia to the rescue. I figured that if someone was going to try to talk JJ into trying it could only be the wonderful Garcia. So what did you guys think, was it good? Did I rush into it a little fast? Let me know any reviews, good or bad are appreciated. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5:_**

 **AN: Thank you guys so much for reading, reviewing, following, and favoriting. It means a lot to me and I really appreciate the support this story is getting. Enjoy the chapter.**

Spencer rang the doorbell with a lot of difficulty due to the multiple bags in his arms. JJ opened the door and quickly grabbed some of the bags that Reid was holding. "Thank you so much for doing this Spence." JJ told him before setting down the bags and giving him a quick kiss.

"Oh, it was no problem. I was on my way over to help you set up anyway." He told her before turning towards the kitchen to put the other bags and boxes down. When he got in there he saw AJ and Henry sitting down at the table. They both jumped up to greet him.

"Uncle Spence, do you need help with those." AJ asked as he tried to see his uncle from behind the bags.

"No, I think I'm okay. Unless you guys know a three-year-old that would be willing to help carry the balloons." Spencer told the boys with a smile.

"Uncle 'pence, I three." Henry exclaimed excitedly.

"Buddy, it's 'I'm three'." AJ told him, he and JJ had been working with him to improve his vocabulary.

"Bubba, you ten. I three." Henry told him very seriously, using his fingers to explain the difference in age causing Spencer to start laughing.

"Hen, I know I'm ten, I was telling you that in that situation you should say 'I'm three' or 'I am three' instead of 'I three'." AJ told him, getting a confused look from Henry.

"Bubba, why are you saying you three if you know that you ten?" Henry asked him, thoroughly confused now. AJ just decided to give up.

"I don't know why I would say that buddy, anyways I think Uncle Spence was asking for a helper. Are there any other qualifications for the position Uncle Spencer?" He asked giving Reid a small smile.

"Well, I would like it to be someone who is celebrating their third birthday today." Reid told them with a small smile growing on his face.

"Today's my third birthday, Uncle 'pence." Henry told him with the same excitement he had shown earlier.

"No way, well I'd better hand you the balloons then." Spencer told him faking surprise. Henry excitedly took the balloons from Reid's hand and ran to the living room to show JJ, who was setting up for the party in there. AJ helped Reid put away the food and drinks that would be served later and went to join the others in the living room.

Soon enough the superhero decorations were up and Henry was wearing a blanket cape, as was Spencer who had been talked into it by AJ and Henry. Guest started to show up and soon the house was a mix of toddlers, their parents, and FBI agents. Morgan and Rossi were the last to show up, both at the same time. "Nice cape, Reid." Morgan told him as he answered the door.

"I get that some may consider us heroes, but we usually fall under the not all heroes wear capes category." Rossi put his two cents in. Spencer blushed and stepped aside to let them in.

"Henry asked me to wear it, and I couldn't say no to that sweet little boy, especially not on his birthday." Spencer explained the blue blanket that was wrapped around his neck. The others laughed and went to do find the birthday boy for themselves. Spencer made his way to the kitchen where JJ was.

"So, how are you doing in here?" he asked her, noticing no one was helping her get the cake and ice cream ready.

"Yeah Spence, I've got this." JJ told him with a small smile. She loved how caring he was, even in the simplest of ways.

"You sure sweetie, I can help you as much as you need." Spencer told her as he started walking closer, and soon he was only inches away from her. He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her and turning so he was looking straight into her eyes and laying a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Spence, someone is going to see us." JJ told him lightly as she found herself leaning in for a second kiss.

"I don't care Jayje, it's been two months, and you know I hate all this sneaking and lying." Spencer told her as they kissed a little more solidly this time. "Besides, I think if we talked to Hotch we could make this work, two months is enough to prove that we can work sufficiently together." He told her, not really kidding anymore.

"Honey, I usually find your rambling adorable. But please, just shut up and kiss me." JJ told him, prompting Reid to lean in and kiss her deeply. They were so involved in their make out session, they didn't hear the door open.

"Hey, JJ did you need any h…" Hotch paused where he was, causing the line of FBI agents behind him to bump into one another. JJ and Reid pulled apart immediately and stared at their whole team who were standing there looking at them.

"Hey guys." JJ said warily, not even trying to deny what the team had just walked in on.

"How long has this been happening?" Hotch asked sternly. JJ and Reid both looked at each other with worried expressions.

"It's been two months almost three, sir." Reid told him quietly.

"That means I win guys." Morgan yelled out causing the others to start arguing.

"No I win, they said two months." Rossi told him. Both Reid and JJ stood there dumbfounded, the team had bet on them getting together and when they would tell them.

"You guys couldn't have held it together for one afternoon and then told us next month, I had four." Garcia told them.

"It doesn't matter either way. None of you won, you said they would tell us. My bet was that we would catch them in the act, therefore I won." Hotch told the others. JJ and Reid looked at each other with bewildered expressions, even Hotch had bet.

"Wait, so you guys knew?" JJ asked them.

"Well, we didn't know if you guys were together yet, but we did know that it would eventually happen." Morgan answered her question.

"Wow, so none of you thought we'd last more than four months?" Reid asked this time.

"They all thought you would break during that time, JJ would be more likely to keep the secret, especially considering how long she did so last time." Hotch told him. "I'm going to need to talk to you guys about this later but for now, let's focus on Henry's birthday." Everyone nodded their agreement to this and headed out with the cake and ice cream.

The rest of the party went nicely, soon enough the parents and children left, leaving only the BAU team still at the house. "So did you like your presents, Hen?" AJ asked the little boy siting in his lap tiredly.

"Yeah, I got a whole bunch of cool toys to play with, Bubba." Henry told him enthusiastically.

"That's great buddy. What was your favorite gift?" Hotch asked from the seat next to where the boys were sitting, holding a half asleep Jack on his own lap.

"I liked all of um, but my favorite was the magic set from Uncle 'pence." Henry told him as he started to yawn, the party had completely worn out the boy.

"Do you want to go take a nap, baby? I will wake you if anyone is leaving." JJ asked him as she picked up the sleepy child. He slowly nodded as he was carried off to his room.

"Jack can sleep in my bed if he wants to take a nap, Uncle Aaron." AJ told Hotch as he saw the little boy was drooling on him at this point. Hotch nodded and gave the boy a small smile before carrying his son to AJ's room. When AJ noticed that both JJ and Spencer were out of the room, as Reid was getting everyone drinks he decided to ask, "So has anyone won your bet yet?"

"Wait, you knew?" JJ asked from the doorway, standing there with her hands on her hips. AJ turned around, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Um, well." AJ started slowly as he looked at mom who was now raising her eyebrow at him. "You know what, I'm just going to be honest here. They told me about it earlier today." He told her, when she gave him her 'I'm not impressed' glare he sighed, "Okay, maybe I might have known about it for a little longer than a day." He confessed quietly. The others were laughing at her ability to make him crack without even speaking.

When she continued to stare at him he sighed again, "Fine, they've had their bet since before you two were together and I've known about it the whole time." He finally gave in completely, throwing the others under the bus slightly, they had laughed at him.

JJ just laughed at this, "Thanks for telling us buddy."

"Well I would have, but Uncle Aaron told me he'd give me half his winnings if I didn't. I knew you two were way to stubborn to give in and he would win so I went with it. On the bright side, I won fifty bucks." AJ told her with a small smirk as he watched her turn around to look at Hotch who was also in the doorway now.

"You bribed my kid?" She asked him, unable to hide the small smile on her face at the situation.

"Well, I wouldn't really call it bribing. I asked him to do me a favor and decided to give him something in return." Hotch told he slowly and smoothly.

"Whatever Hotchner, just know that pay back's a bitch." JJ told him jokingly. The rest of their afternoon was spent joking and having fun, soon enough people from the group had to leave and it was just Spencer and JJ left still awake.

"Thanks for your help, Spence. I don't know what I would have done without you." JJ told him, leaning over to give him a small kiss.

"You know I would do anything for you and those boys, you never need to thank me for helping you and them." Spencer told her as he kissed back.

"Spence, you are one of the best things that has happened to me. I know I was a little scared and hesitant to start this relationship, but I am so glad we did." JJ told him quietly as she curled into him, she was suddenly pulled back up by Reid.

"JJ, Jennifer, it is hard to express the feelings I have for you. I love you, I love every part of you including those boys. I know two months may be early to say that, but Jen, I've loved you for years before these months and that will never change." Reid told her seriously as he gazed into her beautiful blue eyes.

JJ's eyes became slightly teary, "Spencer, I love you too. I love you so much." Spencer pulled her into a deep, sincere kiss.

"You are the best thing that has ever happened to me." He told her softly as they continued to kiss passionately.

 **AN: What did you guys think? Did you like the ending? Please review on what you like and don't like. On the next chapter we finally get Emily back and will see how Spencer feels about JJ's betrayal. Thank you all so much for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6:_**

 ** _AN: I am so sorry for the delay, between testing in school and having horrible writer's block, I haven't been able to write for the past month or so. I hope you enjoy._**

It had been a week since the case after Emily's return ended, and Spencer still hadn't spoken to JJ. They only shared passing glances, JJ didn't know how to make it better and Spencer was too upset to try.

"Spence, I need to talk to you." JJ told him as they were leaving for the day.

"What's here to say JJ?" Spencer asked getting into the elevator with her.

"I don't know how to make this better, but we need to talk about it, we can't keep avoiding each other. The boys are starting to miss you and so am I." JJ told him in a solemn voice.

"Alright, come to my place later and we can talk." Spencer told her with a slightly cold tone. They both got off and headed to their cars. When JJ got home both the boys were there with the nanny who takes care of Henry.

"Susan, do you think you could watch the kids for a while longer, I have something I need to do." JJ asked hoping things would work, as much as she wanted to avoid the whole mess, they needed to work something out.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Jareau, but I have plans for this evening." The young nanny told her.

"That's okay, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." JJ told her, they exchanged goodbyes before she left. It looked like she was going to have to call one of her friends to watch the kids.

"Hey AJ, how did your day go?" JJ asked as she picked up Henry for a hug.

"It was fine. I think I'm going to head to my room to finish the rest of my homework." AJ told her shortly as he collected his things. He was upset with JJ for what happened as well.

"Alright buddy, I have to go out to do something in a little while so one of your aunts or uncles is going to come." JJ called out to him, she then pulled out her phone to make a few quick calls to figure out who could watch the kids.

Soon enough the doorbell rang and JJ rushed to get it. "Thank you so much for doing this for me, I really need to fix things with Spence. There's money on the counter, and pizzas on the way for you and the boys, I'll call you when I'm on my way home." JJ told Emily who was standing in the doorway with an amused look on her face at JJ's list of directions.

"It's no problem, I need to catch up with the boys. Go talk to Spencer and take as long as you need." They both embraced for a second before JJ had to go. She drove in silence, except for the soft buzz of the radio. She got to Spencer's apartment and knocked quietly on the door.

"Hey." She said as he opened the door getting a small greeting in response. As soon as they sat down at on the couch the conversation started, "Spence, I really don't know what to say. I had to do what was best for Emily, I had to protect her."

"Why didn't you trust us; why didn't you trust me?" Spencer asked quietly.

"This had nothing to do with trust, Spence. I trust you with my life, I trust you with the lives of my kids. I did what I had to do to protect Emily and I am so sorry that I hurt you in the process."

Reid let out a sarcastic laugh at this, "You did so much more than hurt me. JJ you broke me, you sent her away and then told me she was dead. I cried for her in front of you for ten weeks, I let you watch me brake and you helped me, you did, but you could have completely fixed it and now that the truth is out it makes what you did worse. You watched me as I suffered. I showed you my darkest place and you brought me a candle down there, but now that candle is tipped over and burning the place down."

"Spencer, I'm sorry." JJ told him with tear filled eyes.

"I know but I just can't forgive you yet. I showed you my vulnerable side, I let you into every part of my life, I told you all of my secrets but you couldn't do the same."

JJ went to speak again but Reid cut her off, "I know why you did it, I know that you needed to protect someone you love. I want to forgive you but JJ I just can't. You hurt me so much with this and I can't forgive you yet. I feel hurt, betrayed, and there is one feeling that overthrows all the others and I hate it, that feeling is love, JJ. Love for you that won't go away no matter what, I love you with every part of me no matter what you do but I don't know if you feel the same, I don't know if you have the same amount of love as I do."

"How could you question my love for you? You don't know how guilty I felt for doing this, but I will do anything to keep a member of this family safe. I know that what I did hurt everyone, especially you but that was the only choice I had to keep her safe. I love you with all of my heart, I know that for a fact. I'm sorry for hurting you with what I did, but I am not sorry for doing it, I would do it over and over again if it was the difference between Emily living or dying." JJ's eyes were red and her voice was shaky, but she refused to cry.

"Jennifer, I love you more than anything, but I don't know how to trust you anymore. I understand why you did what you did but I can't stop the pain I feel. It hurts that you lied to me, that you let me cry on your shoulder about something that you could have stopped with four words. I love you JJ but I don't trust you." The words stung JJ and she had to force the tears not to come out.

A single tear forced its way down JJ's face as she spoke, "I don't know what else I can say to try to make this right, Spence, I really don't. I'm sorry for making you hurt and for losing your trust and if there was any other way I could have done things without risking Emily's life believe me, I would have done that to avoid the pain everyone had to feel."

"I know your sorry and I know that you didn't want to hurt me but JJ, I just can't forgive you yet. I can't stop the bitter and angry feelings from rising up when I think about what you kept from me. I think that maybe… maybe we should take a break." Spencer stuttered out the words and regretted them slightly afterwards.

JJ's voice quivered as she started to speak, "You're breaking up with me?"

"No, I just think that we need a little time apart so that I can get everything through my head and we can move on from here." Spencer answered quickly, trying to explain his words.

JJ let out a bitter laugh and shook her head, "You don't need to patronize me Spencer, I can understand when I'm being dumped." She stood up from her spot on the couch and walked to the door, "Goodbye Spencer."

Spencer jumped up from his spot on the couch and started to follow her, "JJ wait, I just need some time. I love you, and I will never stop loving you. I just need some time to think." JJ gave him a small nod and headed out the door. Spencer sat back on the couch and held his head in his hands as he contemplated everything that just happened.

JJ sat in her car for a few minutes to calm down before driving the conversation had gone worse than she had expected and she couldn't help but feel hurt. She let the tears fall silently as she started her car and headed back home. The streets were mellow and JJ was able to get home quickly. Once she was parked in her driveway she stayed in the car until she could get control of her crying and make sure her eyes weren't red and puffy.

JJ got out of the car with a sigh, she headed inside to see both of her boys curled into their aunt. The three of them were watching a movie, well two of them as Henry had already fallen asleep. "Hey Jayje" Emily greeted as she looked away from the movie.

"Hey Em" she replied quietly, "Hey buddy" AJ looked towards her and then turned back to the TV. JJ sighed, it seemed no one was willing to forgive her. Emily noticed there was some tension between the mother and son and decided to give them a minute.

"I'm going to put this little guy in bed." She said as she stood up and lifted Henry gently. As she left the room JJ walked over to AJ and sat next to him.

"Did you have fun with Aunt Em?" She asked him quietly. He gave her a small nod but didn't look at her. "Bud, you can't be mad at me forever." JJ told him.

"Maybe not, but I honestly don't know how to feel about everything, so for now I'm going to go with anger." AJ spoke for the first time, still not looking at JJ.

"I know your upset about everything but I had an important reason for what I did. I'm sorry that I hurt you in the meantime but it was all that could be done given the situation. You may not always like what I do but you have to trust that there is reason behind it."

AJ nodded his head slightly but still looked kind of upset, "Alright, you kept Auntie Em safe so I guess that's what really matters. I can't say I'm completely over anything but I do understand. I'm going to head to bed goodnight mom." JJ gave her son a small hug before he headed up to his room.

JJ sighed as she let herself fall back into the couch and accept everything this day had brought with it. She saw Emily walking back into the room a few seconds later, "How did everything go?" based on how JJ looked at the moment she had an idea of what the answer would be.

"Not very well. Spence decided that he needs time to think things over, which is basically code for I'm breaking up with you for now, I might come back later." JJ told quietly as she was still trying to accept it.

Emily sighed as she looked at her broken friend, "Jayje, I'm not sure if I would take it that way with Reid. I know that I haven't really been here so I don't know everything but it was obvious before I left that he was in love with you, you know how he is, he needs to take in every thought and feeling before he comes to a conclusion on anything. Based on his love for you there is no way that he doesn't want to be with you and as long as you feel the same way, which I know you do, I think everything will be fine between the two of you."

"What happened to not profiling members of the team." JJ asked her with a small smirk trying to lighten the mood even though it was obvious that she was still hurting.

"I'm not, I'm profiling my friends to help my best friend understand that everything will be okay." Emily told her with a smirk of her own.

"I really missed you Em." JJ said as she leaned into her friend, giving her a small hug.

"I missed you too Jay." Emily said as she embraced the younger agent that was leaning into her.

 ** _AN: I didn't really like how this chapter came out, as I said I have a severe case of writer's block, I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as I possibly can but I don't know when that will be. As always I appreciate you reading and commenting on these stories and I hope you liked this chap more than I did._**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7:_**

 ** _AN: I still seem to have writers block with this story so I'm not sure how good this chapter turned out (I know; I'm really selling it for you guys aren't I). Thanks for all of the reviews and follows. Please enjoy this chapter._**

"You and Mom are both being so bullheaded about this, you really need to talk things out." AJ told Spencer as he sat next to him. Spencer turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Right now, we don't need to be talking about this. You're the focus at the moment." Spencer told the boy. They were both sitting right outside the principal's office waiting to be asked in. AJ had gotten into a fight at school and JJ was in a meeting that she couldn't leave so Spencer had offered to go get him, speaking to her for the first time on a non-work related subject since the fight that had happened almost a month ago.

"I was just saying, you guys aren't going to get anywhere if you don't talk. Communication is key." AJ told him, getting an incredulous look from Spencer.

"AJ, you do realize you just got in a fight right. That is the exact opposite of communication." Spencer told him just as the door to the principal's office opened and Spencer and AJ were asked in.

"Hello, my name is James Clark." The principal said, introducing himself to Reid.

"I'm Spencer Reid." Reid told him avoiding the hand the principal put out to shake.

The principal slowly pulled his hand back before speaking, "It's a pleasure to meet you although I do wish it were under better circumstances." The three guys moved from the doorway into the actual office and sat down. "Well, from what I have heard about this fight, from both teachers and students who witnessed, was that the fight was started by Michael. That being said it is protocol that anyone involved in a fight is suspended for at least three days, Michael is going to get that along with a week of ISS, Anthony will be getting the three days of suspension but that is all."

"Wait, so this Michael kid attacks someone six years younger than him and all he gets is three days of suspension and a week of ISS?" Reid asked, not believing what he was hearing. "Where is this kid anyways?"

"Michael is in the nurse's office, getting his injuries looked at." Mr. Clark explained.

"Was AJ sent to get his injuries looked at?" Reid asked as he looked at the boy who had a black eye and a few cuts on his face and arms, Reid's biggest concern, though, had to do with the boy's hands. His knuckles on both hands were bruised and busted which was expected, but most of AJ's left hand was swollen along with his wrist.

"No, we wanted to keep the boys separate and Michael's injuries seemed to be a bigger concern." The principal told him and noticed something as he looked at both of them, "Anthony, this is not something that you should be smiling about or proud of, Michael had a few severe injuries."

The sentence did nothing to stop the smirk on AJ's face, "Sir, I know that fighting isn't right and isn't tolerated here, but don't you think it's a little funny that Michael started a fight with someone half his age and lost severely." The principal just gave him a look and shook his head.

"Alright well if that's it I'd like to take AJ to the hospital to get his injuries assessed, goodbye." Reid told him, coming off somewhat cold. The principal nodded and the duo walked out.

"You're not serious about taking me to the hospital are you?" AJ asked, he had hated going to the doctors since he was five.

"AJ, your hand is extremely swollen, it looks like either a severe sprain or a fracture, and I'm leaning towards the latter. On top of that, your eye is swollen and bruised, you could have a concussion based on how hard that hit looks like it was. So yes we're going to the hospital, although I should probably go back to work to get your insurance from your mom, that is if she still can't take you herself." Reid told him firmly.

"I don't have a concussion, if I did I would have a severe headache and I would be tired, I know the symptoms. Unlike you I think my hand isn't that bad, it might possibly be sprained but probably not, if it's a sprain all they will do is get me something to immobilize it like they did when I fell out of the tree. I can do the same thing with an ace bandage if it's necessary." AJ argued as he denied the painful headache he was feeling.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal, I won't take you to the hospital, emphasis on the "I", I don't speak for your mom. Anyways, I won't take you to the hospital if you can open your hand fully and close it again." Reid told him getting a deadly glare from AJ. AJ sighed before trying to move his hand and succeeding in moving it out a centimeter before the pain was too much and he couldn't move it anymore.

"Fine, you win. Are we going straight to the hospital or your work first." AJ asked him through clenched teeth.

"Work. I need to let JJ know what's going on and she is in a meeting that will hopefully be over by the time we get there." Reid told him. The rest of the car ride was quiet and soon enough they were at the FBI building. They got to the BAU floor and noticed that JJ wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Is JJ still in her meeting?" Spencer asked looking around for the person he was about to have an awkward exchange with.

"I think so; she hasn't shown up yet." Morgan answered before turning to his nephew, "You okay little man?"

Garcia, who had just entered the room came rushing over to gush over AJ's injuries while he just gave him a smirk before answering, "You should see the other guy."

"My man." Morgan exclaimed reaching over to high five him, AJ high fived with his right hand, not taking his left out of the pocket in his hoodie which it was hidden in.

"Derek Morgan, don't be encouraging him. AJ what were you thinking getting into a fight, the youngest people in that school are five years older than you." Garcia scolded the boys lightly as she continued to check all of AJ's injuries.

"It's not like I started the fight, I just defended myself. By the way this guy was six years older than me and I won." AJ's smirk grew as he explained the situation.

"That's pretty impressive, I mean I don't approve of you getting into a fight but that's still impressive." Emily said as she joined the conversation.

"I'm pretty sure I broke his nose. I feel kind of bad about it, but honestly, he really deserved it. Also, Spence, I don't think I really need to go to the hospital. Aunt Pen seems to be able to handle this."

"You're going; by the way you shouldn't feel bad about breaking his nose. Just look at what he did to your hand and eye." Spencer told him, making everyone wonder what had happened to AJ's hidden hand, even Hotch and Rossi who had just walked into the conversation.

"Technically, I did the hand thing to myself, I may have been punching harder than necessary. But yeah the eye thing was a cheap shot, that was the first hit I took." AJ explained refusing to show the team his hand. Before he could be forced JJ walked through the doors and saw her son.

"Oh my god, baby are you okay? What the hell were you thinking getting into a fight? Who did this to you, you are supposed to be safe at that scho..." JJ rambled through questions and comments before being cut off.

"MOM! Calm down I'm fine." AJ told her.

"No you're not AJ, show your mom your hand." Spencer ordered sternly. AJ slowly pulled out his fragile hand.

"Oh my god, we're going to the hospital. Hotch, am I good to leave?" JJ asked looking to her boss.

"Yeah, of course. AJ I hope you feel better and don't get into any more fights young man." Hotch said directing the last part to his nephew.

"Um, JJ do you, uh, do you mind if I go with you?" Reid asked stuttering on his words, he felt awkward in the situation, but he really wanted to be there to know exactly what was wrong with AJ.

"Uh, yeah I guess." JJ said, she was a little unsure of the idea but figured that Spencer wanted to make sure AJ was okay. Spencer looked to Hotch who nodded and the trio set off on their path to the hospital. Once there, there was a long wait and multiple test and x-rays before they could determine all of AJ's problems.

"Hello, Mrs. And Mr. Rodriguez and Anthony." The young doctor started getting everyone in the family's names slightly off as he had only looked at AJ's paperwork which had his first and last name on it and made the assumption.

"Actually It's Ms. Jareau, and this is Dr. Reid." JJ explained getting a small apology from the man.

"You can call me AJ." AJ told him, not used to being called by his real name.

"Okay, so AJ, what does that stand for?" The doctor asked him.

"Anthony Joseph, or is it Anthony Jr., oh my god mom help me I'm having an identity crisis." AJ exclaimed playfully looking at his mom with a fake shocked expression. She just rolled her eyes before turning to the doctor who was smiling at the boy's antics.

"I'm Dr. Jones, I was given all of AJ's results and we are pretty certain that he doesn't have a concussion, if he does it is mild and not something that you need to worry about much. His hand on the other hand, was fractured in multiple places, his capitate, which is the bone in the middle of the small bones on the hand along with the metacarpus and proximal phalange of his middle finger which are the bones right before and after his knuckle were all fractured. Whatever you did, it did a number on your hand." Dr. Jones told them.

"Were going to cast it, which should take about twenty to thirty minutes, and then I'll write a prescription for some pain medication for him and you guys should be good to go." Half an hour later everything was handled and AJ had a brand new dark blue cast covering the lower half of his arm.

An hour later The three of them along with Henry were relaxing at the house after what had been a very long day. "I can't believe they were more concerned about this sixteen-year-old than my ten-year-old." JJ said shaking her head as she continued hugging AJ close to her, Henry was on the other side of AJ having fun with his brothers cast and a package of markers.

"He was hurt worse than me, mom, and he was bleeding a lot." AJ told her as he looked at the abstract art that now covered his left arm. "What is that Hen?" he asked his little brother as he tilted his head to make sense of it.

"It's a dragon, do you like it bubba?" The little boy asked hopefully, always looking for the approval of his big brother as most younger siblings did.

"Of course I do buddy, it looks great." AJ told him enthusiastically.

"Hey, AJ would you mind taking your brother upstairs for a while, I need to talk to your mom." Spencer asked as he finally got up his nerve.

"Yes, my captain." AJ told him giving him a fake salute with his left hand and hitting his head with the hard cast in the process. "Ow, darn it, sometimes I wonder how I was classified as a genius." AJ told them jokingly as he rubbed his sore head. He grabbed his brothers hand and the two were soon out of sight.

"What did you want to talk about Spence?" JJ questioned quietly, she had an idea what this was about.

"I want to talk about us. Today I realized something, when I found out that some kid had hurt AJ, I was furious, I was furious in the way that a parent would be. JJ I love you and your family, and I want nothing more than to be a part of that, I'm still not completely over everything that happened but I do want to be with you and I want to be a part of this family. You gave me time to think and I want to for us to work things out." Spencer told her sincerely.

"You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that, Spence I love you more than anything and so do the boys, even if we weren't together you need to know that you will always be a part of this family. I love you beyond what words could express and I want us to be able to work through everything and be our happy in love selves. I know that what I had to do hurt you and I know it takes time for you to be okay with what happened and truly forgive me but I do want this to work out and I'm willing to work for and wait for that day where you do forgive me." JJ told him in the same way he had expressed his feelings.

"So were back together?" Spencer asked leaning towards her.

"I really hope so." JJ told him, prompting him to lean further in and kiss her lightly.

"Yeah, were back together." He told her before leaning in again letting all of his emotion escape in this kiss.

 **AN: thank you guys for reading please comment on what you thought about everything. I am working on another story so please be on the lookout for that one, it is going to be a Willifer story. Thank you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**_Chapter 8:_**

 ** _AN: Well guys I am starting to get back in the hang of this story but it will only have a few more chapters. Just a warning, this chapter has a lot of violent language in it. Enjoy._**

JJ and Spencer received curios looks from the members of their team as they walked into work together. This was the first time in months that JJ and Spencer had been scene willingly talking to each other in a non-work related manner. Before they could be bombarded by questions, Hotch decided to help them out, "How's AJ doing?"

JJ sighed before answering, "Physically, he's okay, he broke his arm yesterday but other than that there weren't any major problems. Emotionally though I don't know, he seems okay, but you know how he likes to hide his feelings away from everyone. I thought kids weren't supposed to be difficult to read until they were teenagers."

JJ tried to hide how upset she was with the situation by adding humor. She was upset with everyone involved, the school didn't protect him, that kid had no right touching her son, and she wished AJ could just talk to her instead of masking his feelings and trying to deal with everything on his own. Above all else she was upset with herself, she was a mother, she was supposed to protect him, keep him out of harms reach. She was also a profiler; she should be able to understand how her son is feeling even when he is trying so hard to not let it show. JJ felt as though she was failing both of the jobs that she loved the most. She was the reason that her child had both emotionally and physically been hurt, she had let her little boy get hurt when she was supposed to protect him.

The team continued to chat for a moment before breaking apart with both Emily and Penelope gave JJ a look which told her that they wanted to know the details of what went on between her and Spencer. JJ tried to concentrate on work but her mind kept going back to her son throughout the day. By the end of the day JJ just wanted to go home and be with her family so she told the girls she would explain things later.

Before JJ could leave though, Derek asked if they could talk with a look so serious that she couldn't ask for it to be put off until later. "What did you want to talk to me about?" she asked as soon as they were in the privacy of JJ's old office.

Morgan paused for a moment to try to form the words, he had been wanting to talk to JJ since he found out about AJ's fight but hadn't been able to until now. With a sigh he started, "Jayje, a few months ago when we were at your house for a family dinner, I was talking to AJ while we were out back and when I mentioned school he started acting weird, just for a second before he changed and tried to mask things again. I didn't let him, I questioned him on what was going on and found out that the kids at school weren't that great. He made it seem like it wasn't that big of a deal but I think it's bigger than he led onto." There was guilt in Morgan's voice as he spoke.

"Morgan, why the hell didn't you tell me this sooner I could have done something to stop this from happening." JJ all but yelled, taking the anger she felt at herself out on Morgan

"Jayje, I'm so sorry, if I knew this was going to happen I would have told you. I made a stupid promise with him to not tell you unless I was given a reason to. I never should have made that promise, I'm really sorry JJ." Morgan told her with the same guilty tone he had earlier.

JJ felt bad for her burst of anger, she knew it shouldn't have been directed at him especially with how bad he clearly felt. "I'm sorry Derek, I shouldn't be taking this out on you. It's not your fault, I should have known something was going on, I'm his mom I'm supposed to protect him and keep him safe but instead he was physically hurt before I could realize what was happening." JJ told him sadly.

"Jayje, It's not your fault or mine, the only one at fault here is those kids who picked on AJ and that school for not noticing and protecting a young kid from them." Morgan told her with a small reassuring smile.

JJ frowned for a moment before speaking, "Whosever fault it is, I know two things, I need to talk to AJ and help him through this, and he is definitely not going back to that school." JJ told him before exchanging goodbyes and hurrying home to her family.

When JJ got home she thanked the nanny who was taking care of the boys before greeting her boys and getting Henry settled with his toys. Once Henry was occupied JJ took her eldest son to the kitchen to talk. "I need you to tell me what has been going on at school, buddy." She told him in a kind but firm tone.

"You mean besides getting into a fight and getting in trouble for protecting myself?" AJ asked sarcastically trying to keep on the mask that he used to shut everyone else out without it being obvious.

JJ sighed knowing that it was going to be hard to get him to let her in, "Honey, I know you try to handle things on your own but you need to tell me what has been happening at school before this."

AJ refused to give up and let her in, he always tried to handle situations on his own and didn't want his mom to have to handle everything for him, "Well before the fight, I went to a few classes, learned some stuff, taught the teacher some stuff, and made it halfway through my lunch."

"AJ, Derek told me what you told him a few months ago, about the kids at school not being so nice. How long have they been bullying you?" JJ decided to let him know that she knew what was happening in hopes of him actually talking.

"He promised not to tell!" AJ exclaimed breaking from how he had been acting.

"He promised he wouldn't tell unless he felt it was necessary, you getting attacked by another student made it very necessary. AJ, you need to talk to me. You always try to be as independent as you possibly can, you act like you're grown up and don't need anyone's help anymore, but you do. No matter how mature you are, or how intelligent you are, you are still a ten-year-old little boy with ten-year-old emotions, you need to let me help you the way a mother should help her son. To do that you need to tell me what hurts so I can make it better." JJ had started off strong but her voice got softer as she expressed her feelings about the situation.

As AJ spoke, his voice cracked slightly, "Okay." He said simply.

He sighed before starting to explain things in a low somber voice, "It's been going on since last year. I don't know exactly why I was their main target, maybe it was because they were angry that someone my age got to be placed with them, maybe it was because they were jealous, or maybe it was simply because I was different from everyone else. Whatever the reason, I was their target, their source of entertainment came from calling me names and pushing me around.

Over time, the number of people that would pick on me increased, Michael being the ring leader to the mass of brutes. I didn't fight back, I didn't see a point in doing so, I figured it would only lead to them getting the reaction that most people look for when they do these things so I just let them have their fun. I thought that eventually they would stop, that they would grow tired of completing the same action time and again with no results, I was right they did get tired of it but that only made it worse. They started going harder, becoming more physical, they were determined to break me but that made me determined to not break.

When the school year ended I thought that that would be the end of it, that they would move on or grow up but they didn't, they continued to verbally and physically abuse me because they had nothing else to do. I could handle it like I had done the year prior but there was another problem, one day in Mr. Brown's class, I corrected him on one of the answers he had given us and he didn't like the idea of being shown up by a student, he made it a priority to make things harder on me to teach me for 'undermining a teacher's lessons', I apologized to him but he still wasn't okay with what I had done. He, along with the students who bullied me have made this the worst school year in my life." AJ finished explaining with tear-filled eyes.

"Baby, I am so sorry they hurt you, I am going to talk to your principal as soon as I can. I'm pulling you out of that school and will make sure all of them are held accountable for what they have done to you, including that teacher. I know this will be hard but I need you to make a list of everyone that has bullied you these past two years." JJ told him as she pulled him into her lap and held onto him, something they hadn't done in years.

They sat in silence for a few moments as JJ comforted the small boy sitting in her lap. She sighed before speaking again, "Buddy, what happened yesterday? You said that you hadn't fought back at all until yesterday and Michael attacked you in an open area where anyone could see, so what did they do that led to yesterday's events?"

AJ's felt the tears cloud his vision again as he thought back to what had happened…

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

He had just gotten out of Mr. Brown's class and was trying to mask his frustration so that it wasn't used as ammo by anyone during lunch. He was halfway through the lunch he had packed when Michael and his band of buffoons came walking up. Michael grabbed AJ's sandwich from his hands and took a bite of it before throwing it, along with the rest of his lunch on the ground.

"Don't you know your manners, it's common curtesy to offer food to those around you when they don't have any and you do." Michael told him in a condescending tone. AJ had to bite his tongue to keep from making a sarcastic remark.

"Your brother's last name is LaMontagne, right?" Michael asked getting a confused look from AJ as he had never mentioned that to Michael before. Michael took his silence as a yes and continued, "Well, last night I was reading an old article online about this Detective that got shot, his name was William LaMontagne, was that his dad?" AJ's look turned hostile as Michael mentioned his dad. He did have to admit that while Michael was a bully he was a dedicated bully.

Michael started to smile when he got a reaction and continued, "So, I was right then. How is it to be a bastardised kid twice over, I bet your first dad left the moment that he found out that your mom wouldn't have an abortion. Your stepdad probably wanted to die when he realized that while he was having his own kid, he was going to have to father you too." Michael told him sadistically, finding pleasure in the reaction that his incorrect assumptions had gotten.

AJ was angry to say the least, he wasn't going to be pushed around and made to feel small anymore and he wasn't going to let this idiot dishonor his fathers' names. "Fuck you." He stated simply catching Michael off guard as it was one of the only times he had heard him speak.

"Whoa, don't you know those are naughty words for a kid so young to be saying." He told him with the same patronizing tone as earlier.

"You know, according to the lead psychologists, bullying usually stems from two things, the bully may have an undeveloped brain and can't quite understand what empathy is or how to be emotionally aware of others and lashes out as a result of it. Another reason comes from the bully being insecure, this could have to do with a situation at home or a secret about who the person is that they don't want people to know, like if the person was gay for example they might try to act more masculine by bringing smaller and seemingly weaker people down. This insecurity could also have to do with a physical aspect of the person like their weight or how attractive they are; they could even be acting like a complete asshole completely because they have a really small dick." AJ told him, mimicking Michael's tone from before getting laughter from the crowd that had started forming around them.

"You little shit." Michael growled while grabbing the collar of AJ's shirt and held him a few inches off the ground. "You don't get to comment on the size of my dick when yours is probably the size off a pill." Michael released him and let him drop back onto the ground.

"It's kind of funny that me accusing you of having a small penis offends you more than me implying that your brain is under developed, also it would be kind of creepy if I had a huge dick, I haven't gone through puberty yet, what's your excuse?" AJ asked with a smirk growing on his face.

That's when it happened, out of nowhere Michael just took a swing at AJ hitting him directly in the eye. He tackled the younger boy, but before the kids around them could rush to stop Michael from hurting the kid almost half his age the situation had flipped. AJ was on top of Michael swinging anywhere he could and using the techniques of self-defense that the team had taught him.

The kids around them did nothing to stop the situation, Michael deserved what he was getting after what he had said about AJ's dads. Soon a security guard had pulled the two boys away from each other and they were both sent to their separated areas.

JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

After hearing what had happened JJ was shocked with how cruel that kid could be, she was also a little creeped out by what the kid had researched and learned about purely to try to hurt her son. JJ held him tighter than she had before and reassured him that he wouldn't have to hurt like that again if she could help it.

The two sat together for a long time, caught up in the much needed comfort they were giving each other. They were surprised when Henry walked in with JJ's phone to his ear, "I don't know, 'pence, I will ask Mama now." He said as he walked over to where JJ and AJ were sitting, "Mama, 'pence wants to know if we want to have dinner with him."

"Let me talk to Spence baby boy." JJ told him holding out her hand for the phone as AJ uncurled himself from her arms and walked over to his baby brother.

"Since when do you call him 'Spence' and not 'Uncle Spence'?" AJ asked with a raised eyebrow while their mom talked on the phone.

"You don't call him Uncle 'pence no more either." Henry told him.

"You know that you don't have to do things just because I do them right bud?" AJ asked him with the same eyebrow going up.

"But you're the most awesomest person ever bubba, I wanna be just like you and do the same things you do." Henry told him with an admiring look in his eyes. JJ had gotten off the phone just in time to hear Henry and was smiling at the bond her boys had.

"Well Hen, I'm glad I've got someone in my corner, I love baby bro." He told him giving him a small hug before giving him and his mom a playful look, "But, if you don't stop wanting to do the exact same things as me then in a few years, you're going to end up being the youngest rebel ever." He told him hinting at a mischievous future.

"Yeah, and then I'll have to lock you up with AJ until he turns 18." JJ teased while giving AJ a pointed look. "Alright you two, go get ready we're going out to eat with Spence." JJ told them sending both boys out of the kitchen with a playful pat to their butts. She stopped AJ for a second though, "You know that Henry isn't the only one in your corner right, you have me, Spence, and the whole team, our family all ready to be there for you when you need them."

AJ gave her a warm smile before answering, "I know Mom, I love you."

"I love you too."

 ** _AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please comment on your thoughts. Thank you._**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Chapter 9:_**

 ** _AN: I'm so sorry that I have taken so long with this story, I know that I've done that a lot and I really appreciate all of your patience with this._**

 _2 years later:_

JJ sat waiting in the hospital waiting room for news on Spencer, Blake was next to her and the others were with Morgan. Spencer had been shot in the neck and it was taking everything in JJ not to have a mental breakdown right now. She wondered if this is how Reid had felt earlier this year when she had gotten kidnapped, not knowing whether the person they loved was going to be okay or not.

JJ turned when she heard the door open. As she hoped, the doctor was standing there yelling out Reid's name. JJ and Blake stood immediately and walked to him, "Are you family?" he asked as he looked at the girls.

Blake was the first to answer, "Were his coworkers, FBI." She told him getting a small nod from the man as he led them to a separate room.

"Agent Reid lost a lot of blood with the shot he took, luckily, it missed the part of his neck and throat that helps him to speak and any of the bone there. He will most likely recover completely within the next few weeks." The doctor told them.

"Can we see him?" JJ asked with a sense of relief filling every part of her as she heard the last sentence.

"They are getting him situated now so you can probably go in in a few minutes." He explained, "The nurse will let you both know when you can go in and where he is."

The girls went back to the waiting room feeling much better than they had before, for JJ the relief only lasted a few minutes as she noticed Garcia enter the room with both of her sons. JJ's eyes widened and she stood up, she hugged her boys before asking Garcia out of the room.

AJ and Henry walked over to the chairs and sat down quietly, Henry was still a little unsure of everything that was going on, but AJ was mentally freaking out as he went through statistics about what could happen to someone shot in the neck.

"AJ, are you okay?" Alex asked quietly as she moved to the seat next to him.

AJ nodded his head, "Yeah, I just… I… thoughts keep coming up of what could happen, and Spencer and I have been fighting for the last month and a half, the last thing I told him was that he wasn't my father and I hated him, those can't be the last words I say to him."

Blake looked at the boy sympathetically, she wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close, "They won't be buddy, the doctors said he is going to be okay, when he wakes up you can go in there and tell him you love him."

Outside JJ was yelling, "Why did you bring them here Garcia?"

Garcia was slightly surprised by the harsh tone to JJ's voice, "I'm sorry Jayje, when the boys found out I was coming, they asked to come and I didn't have the heart to say no. Reid is basically their father, Henry calls him dad. AJ needed the reassurance that he wasn't going to lose another father."

"I understand that but it could still be dangerous, the bullet in Morgan's vest didn't come from the same gun as the one in his arm. There is another shooter out there that we still need to find and it isn't safe just yet." JJ said in a softer tone.

"I didn't know; I never would have brought them if I knew that was the case. I'm so sorry Jayje." Garcia said with regret in her voice, knowing she may have potentially put the boys in danger.

JJ sighed, regretting yelling at Garcia in the first place. She knew she had good intentions, "It's okay Pen, I know you were trying to do the best thing for the boys. Sorry I yelled." Garcia just smiled and hugged her. When the girls went back inside, the nurse was just leaving and Blake and the boys were getting up.

"He's in room 203." Alex told them, the group walked over to the room and saw Reid sleeping with a patch on his neck.

Henry looked at him with wide eyes before turning to his mother, "He's going to be okay, right?" He asked innocently.

"The doctor said he should recover fully in a few weeks, don't worry baby, daddy will be fine." JJ told her youngest pulling him into a partial hug. She turned to her oldest who was staring at Reid with glossy eyes, "Baby, he'll be okay." She told him wrapping her arm around his shoulder. AJ just nodded and continued looking at the man with regret in his eyes.

The group waited for Reid to wake up, and when he finally did he was greeted with jello and Dr. Who. Almost as soon as he was awake Hotch called and said that he needed JJ and Blake there quickly. Garcia, Henry and Reid talked for a while, while AJ remained almost silent. "I'm going to go get the boys dinner from the cafeteria, Henry do you want to come with me?" Garcia asked getting an enthusiastic nod from the five-year-old. Once the pair had left there was a few moments of awkward silence between the geniuses, Spencer didn't want to force the boy to talk.

Finally, AJ looked up from the floor, "I'm sorry Spence. I've been a jerk to you for the past two months and I shouldn't have said those things before you and mom left. I don't hate you, and you're the closest thing I've had to a dad since Will died, you're my family, I love you."

Spencer smiled and softly answered, "I love you too bud, I think of you and Henry as my sons, but it's okay if you aren't ready or okay with thinking of me as a father."

"Spence, you've been my dad for the past two years, I'm sorry I ever said you weren't, I might not be ready to call you that just yet, but I do think of you that way." AJ got up from his chair and reached over to softly hug Spencer, who embraced him easily.

As they let go, they heard the door open loudly behind them, and saw Garcia running in with her phone in one hand and Henry in the other. "Morgan, you know I don't like using guns." The boys knew it was serious because of the context and lack of nickname, she paused as Morgan responded she looked uncertain and responded with a wary, "Okay."

Once she was off the phone she started pulling the wheelchair in the corner of the room towards the bed, "The police force is corrupt, the officer who shot you is here. We need to get out of here now." Reid's eyes widened as he hurried to get into the wheelchair. Garcia started pushing him with AJ, who was carrying Henry right behind them, once they were out of the room, Garcia pulled the nearest fire alarm lever and continued pushing Reid.

After everything was settled, it seemed the police officer had disappeared. They went back to how they were, besides being more alert and aware of who was there this time. Garcia was on the phone with Morgan, who was coming to the hospital, and AJ was sitting next to her looking in Reid's bag of possessions for Spencer's phone so Spencer could call JJ. Henry was sitting on the left side of Reid telling him about his day and how fun it was to ride on the plane.

The door opened and a nurse walked in and went to put something into Reid's iv. "He had his meds an hour ago." Garcia told the nurse after hanging up with Morgan.

The nurse nodded and looked at his clip-board, "Yeah, post-op antibiotics."

"Yeah, he had those too." Garcia told him.

Reid sat up slightly and reached for the clip-board, "Which ones?" he became more confused when he read it, "Carbenicillan? No that's not right. I have a severe reaction to beta lac tams." Reid told him as he struggled to sit up farther.

The nurse shook his head, "That's not on your chart." He reached over to finish what he was doing.

Reid started to panic, "What are you doing? Garcia, he has a gun!" Reid yelled, everything happened quickly, the nurse moved to pull his gun out, and AJ, who already had his hand in the bag, pulled Reid's gun out. AJ aimed and pulled the trigger. The gun fired loudly and the nurse fell to the floor holding his hands to his stomach.

AJ's eyes widened and he dropped the gun back into the bag, "I… Is he alive" he stuttered out, the realization that he may have killed a man entering his mind. His hands were shaking and he was having trouble inhaling.

"He's alive." Reid told him while nodding his head. Morgan came running into the room with his gun raised, having heard the gunshot while he was exiting the elevator. He called in some of the nurses and doctors, while putting a cuff on one of his hands and attaching it to the gurney the nurses put him on.

"What happened?" Morgan asked.

"He tried to put meds I'm allergic to in my iv, after we gave him trouble he reached for his gun and AJ grabbed mine and shot him." Reid told him while holding the shaking boy close to him. Morgan's eyes widened when he heard that the boy had had to do that. He turned to Garcia, who was holding Henry, before he could speak his phone rang, he answered and was told he needed to meet Hotch and JJ to catch McGregor.

"I have to go, hopefully this will be the last thing we need to do and we can finally go home." Morgan told them, "Call me or Hotch if there's any more problems here." When the others agreed to do so he quickly left, knowing he had a short window of time to get this guy.

Two hours later, JJ finally made it to the hotel. She had a bruise on her face from the door and another on her arm from the officer's firm grip. When she entered the room her family didn't look much better, AJ was asleep with his arms firmly around Spencer, leaving her injured boyfriend in an awkward angle. Henry was also asleep, curled into Garcia's lap. Both Garcia and Reid were awake and talking quietly.

"Hi buttercup." Garcia greeted, causing Reid to turn his head around slightly which caused him pain and almost woke up AJ.

"Hey Honey, what happened?" Reid asked concerned and ignoring his own pain.

"I'm fine, Derek told me what happened here, are you guys okay?" JJ asked looking between Spencer and AJ.

"I'm okay, AJ was really shaken up about it though, he's been like this since it happened." Reid told her pointing to the position AJ was in.

Garcia slowly got up, holding the sleeping boy and moving him into the spot she was in. "I'm going to go to the cafeteria and get some tea, do you want anything?" she asked getting a no from both of them. The shuffling and sound in the room woke AJ up and he moved himself out of his previous position and went to sit next to his sleeping brother, he offered his mom a nod and a tight smile when she asked if he was alright.

Spencer thought about his next move for a moment, "AJ can you hand me my bag please?" he asked getting a small nod as the boy passed over the bag. "Jen, can you take a seat honey?" he asked getting a curious look from the members of the room who were awake.

After he got something from the bag that JJ couldn't see, he turned to JJ, "JJ, I have been in love with you since I took you to that Redskins game, through everything that has happened, my love has only grown. There is no other place I'd rather be than with you and your, our, family. We've been through a lot this year, and going through this so soon after your kidnapping, it's made me realize, life is something that can be taken very easily, I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side as my wife. Jennifer Jareau, will you marry me?" Spencer asked finally opening his hand to show the ring he had been carrying with him for the past month, he had been trying to find the perfect moment to ask.

"Yes." JJ rushed out with tears in her eyes, Spencer pulled her into a kiss and relished in the moment. Behind them, AJ smiled at the sight, after all the struggles and test the family had been put through, they were still there. After the recent events, they were all bent, but as long as they stuck together, they would never break.

 ** _The End_**

 ** _AN: Well, I guess it's over, thank you all so much for reading and commenting on this story, it means so much to me._**


End file.
